Til Death
by Takianna
Summary: Captain Rex makes the hardest decision of his life


The barrel of his blaster was hot from continued firing. He knew that it must be burning her skin as he dug it into her bare stomach. If she survived this, he knew there would be a scar to always remind her of him.

This wasn't how he had planned things to be, but it had gotten very complicated. So complicated that he didn't know how he was going to get out of this position, his gun pointing at the stomach of the one person he wanted to protect more than anything.

"You haven't pulled the trigger yet," his voice echoed from behind him mockingly, surgically filtered through a helmet vocalizer. Rex shook his head trying to clear it enough to think, but between Ahsoka's eyes welling with tears, the fear written on her features and the voices of the group of men behind him, he couldn't begin to produce a thought. There had to be something he could do.

"Let's take her somewhere. She doesn't deserve to die out here in the middle of the street," Rex said stalling for time. He just needed a few minutes to figure out what to do and how to let Ahsoka go free.

• • •

"_Rex you don't have to do this," Ahsoka said her eyes tired and sad. She knew what was going on. Rex had laid it all on the table for her so that there would be no surprises. She was now in charge of her destiny and he was merely a facilitator to get her where she needed to go. Anywhere but here._

_He had hatched this plan as a way for them to gain transport off of Coruscant. Away from the things which were happening around them. Rex knew that Order 66 had been issued and he knew that the channels in his HUD had been alight with clones counting the number of jedi they had slaughtered in the streets. He had heard them all cheering as they had finished their assault on the temple. It had made his stomach turn. They were protectors of the Republic. They were the friends of the jedi, not their executioners._

"_I want to little one," Rex said trying to keep the catch in his voice at bay when he used her nickname. She wasn't so little anymore. War had done something to her innocence. It had changed everyone. Rex was different in his soul. War wasn't all that he could live for anymore and he knew it._

"_This is dangerous Captain," Ahsoka said trying to be the commanding leader that he had taught her to be on the battlefield. That stuff didn't work on him though. He saw the cracks in her braveness because they all had cracks in the armor they wore, including him. Ahsoka was his major crack. His weakness. His need to make sure that she was protected sometime caused him difficulty._

"_I'm not worried about me," Rex snarled at her trying to get a fire burning to keep them warm while they waited in the lower levels of Coruscant. "What I'm worried about is someone getting to you before I can make sure you are off this rock."_

_Rex busied himself because he knew that if he stopped and thought about what was happening, he would break down. There was no time for him to weak. Ahsoka had to get away from here. She would be the legacy of the jedi that General Skywalker should have been. What a disappointment General Skywalker had become._

_The man who had served next to Rex for so long now was completely different. Someone Rex would never recognize. Someone Rex never wanted to be near again._

"_I miss him too," Ahsoka said into the darkness trying to comfort Rex. "He was important to both of us. I don't know how I'm going to go on without him."_

_Rex moved next to the girl and put his arm around her protectively. He was now her caretaker and he had to make sure that she survived. That some jedi survived._

"_You will be fine," Rex said comforting her. "We might freeze to death though if I don't get this fire going."_

_Rex moved away from her, assured that she had been comforted by his presence and started stacking small pieces of wood into a tee pee shape. It was part of the survival training they had been given on Kamino. Although starting a fire on a rain soaked planet could prove challenging at times, he had managed to start at least one._

_Pulling one of his blasters from his holster, Rex pushed the barrel into the kindling and snapped off a quick round. He had worried about firing because the sound was something which would carry in the underbelly of the capital. Bounding off the transpirsteel and formed concrete walls which supported the upper levels of the city. The sound was minimal though and the fire began to glow._

• • •

"She deserves to die like our brothers did," another man behind Rex said. Rex, helmet off, looked at Ahsoka, her eyes growing wider with every word the men spoke. There would be no comforting her now. _I won't let them hurt you, _Rex mouthed to Ahsoka. Her eyes portrayed understanding. It was the least he could do for her now.

Rex shoved the blaster into her stomach and pushed her towards one of the burned out buildings on the same side of the street. Now would be the time to make their move. Rex had Ahsoka's lightsaber tucked into his armor and he would need to distract the other clones long enough to give it back to her. Then they would be sitting ducks under the green glowing blade. He would have to be quick enough at disabling their communication. Rex would have to send feedback through his helmet and that would render him unable to participate. He would be paralyzed from the sound in his own HUD. He just hoped this would work because he knew they wouldn't get a second chance.

"She's a jedi for Kamino's sake," Rex growled at the other clones as they entered the shell of a building. He was surprised it didn't fall down around the loud sounds of their booted feet. "It's not her fault that your brothers died."

The clone closest to Rex scoffed. "She did enough," he said with a cold voice. "Take care of her NOW before we do it for you."

Rex leaned in close to the small Togruta's ear and whispered, "Make sure you get them all."

Pulling away from Ahsoka, Rex aimed the blaster at her and then reached his free hand into the helmet he had clipped to his belt. He ripped several wires from the helmet and the screeching noise which issued from his HUD rang through the building bouncing off the walls. The other men held their hands up to ears which were invisible under helmets and bent over in pain as they were assaulted with the sound.

Ahsoka leapt forward, calling to her lightsaber. It broke free from it's hiding place under one of Rex's armor plates and smacked into her hand. Rex plugged his ears and watched in silence as the macabre scene played out in front of his eyes. Before he could blink, Ahsoka had decapitated two men and was now stabbing another through the heart. She pulled her blade back from the trooper's body and then finished the final one with a huge overhanded chop which looked strange for a body so small. She deactivated her lightsaber and Rex unplugged his ears. The ringing in his helmet continued and he reached inside again and reconnected the wires he had pulled free. It was a good thing they had all been taught to rebuild helmets under pressure or that noise would have let everyone know where they were.

"You okay little one?" he asked smiling at her. Ahsoka's shoulders rose and fell as she regained her normal breathing pattern.

"Fine Captain, but did you really have to shove the blaster so hard into my stomach?" she asked running a hand across her skin where a small welt was beginning to form. Rex nodded affirmative and then walked over and ran a gauntleted finger over the welt.

"I've got some stuff for that," he said. "It'll still leave a mark."

Ahsoka bent down and started to pick through the utility belt of one of the clones she had decapitated.

"Anything good?" Rex asked and started picking through another man's belt searching for a recharge for his blasters. There was no telling how long they would be out here and he would need more ammo. He should've felt terrible doing this to his own brothers, but they had made their choice. They had decided to follow orders that shouldn't be followed. Weren't they as human as he was? Weren't they made from the same DNA he was made from and shouldn't they feel the same things he did?

• • •

"_Where will I go?" she asked in a small voice which denoted how alone she was really. Rex handed her a survival pack and helped her to hoist it onto her small shoulders. The pack looked so huge against her little frame._

"_You will know where to go little one," Rex said confident that they were doing the right thing. Being a clone, he had always been able to face the fact that he would not live long. Rapid aging had predicted that fact. He was only 10 years old, but his body was that of a 20 year old. When he was 20, he would actually be 40. Rex knew that his likelihood of even escaping Coruscant was zero. Ahsoka had to be taken care of and she had to get away._

"_I won't know," Ahsoka said sadness making her voice thick with tears that she was trying not to shed. Her shoulders trembled as if she were about to breakdown into sobs. Rex couldn't let that happen. She had to be strong if she was to survive. Survival was the most important part._

_Pulling a holo map from his utility belt and activated the switch. He held it so that she could see the map floating above his hand._

"_You can pick anyone of these places," he said pointing to different stars as they floated. "There is no limit to what you can do little one."_

_Ahsoka sobbed quietly. Rex knew that she felt alone. So alone that he would never understand how she felt. Now she was the last of her kind. Well, as far as they knew. He moved to her side and scooped her up in his arms, hugging her tightly against his armor. He didn't want her to suffer._

• • •

"There are so many,"Ahsoka said as she peered out a small hole in a wall. Rex had already seen the sea of clones between the building and the landing platform where one lone shuttle could be seen. There would be no way that they could make it across the expanse whether it was a mile or two feet. Rex might be able to on his own. He was a clone and would blend in, but Ahsoka would never be able to walk straight across without anyone looking at her. She would be dead before she could take three steps. She was a very well known jedi.

"You go Rex," Ahsoka said touching him on the shoulder. "You get out of here. They won't suspect you."

Rex hung his head. His eyes welled with tears. There was no way he could get Ahsoka from this planet. He had failed at the one thing he was positive that he could make happen. His mission was a failure.

Rex's body shook as he sobbed, something he had never let himself do in public. Ahsoka placed her arms around him and hugged him. Her arms couldn't take away the feelings that he was having. There really was no hope. Everything that he had tried to accomplish, the man he had tried to be, was falling apart.

"We can just hide out," Ahsoka said knowing that it fell flat. She knew that it wasn't a long term solution to their problem. "Just promise me that you won't let them take me. You won't let them kill me."

Rex nodded yes through his sobs. If there was one thing he could promise her it was that he wouldn't let the other clones have her. She would not suffer just for being a jedi. She was his responsibility and he meant to carry it to the end.

• • •

"_So this is what you see through this thing?" Ahsoka asked peering into Rex's helmet. He had turned on the HUD to get an idea of a safe direction to go. _

"_Yeah," Rex said studying her face. He was trying to commit everything to his memory now. It seemed like time was slipping away from him and he didn't know why. This was a different time and like nothing he had ever experienced in his short life._

"_That would make me sick," she said and tossed the helmet back to him. Rex held it up and examined the markings on the outside. He was so proud of them. He remembered the day he had finished with the paint scheme. Cody had given him so much bantha crap over them that he had thought about taking them off and starting over. _

"_They are cool," Ahsoka chimed in as though she knew what he was thinking._

"_How do you do that?"Rex asked and grimaced at her. It was though she was reading his mind all the time. He wasn't sure there was enough room in there for her too._

• • •

"They are coming this way," Rex said distressed that the massive group of clones were now doing a sweep of the area. They had cut Ahsoka and himself off from any possible escape. They were a methodical group too. It wouldn't be long before they were found.

"What are they doing Rex?" Ahsoka asked nervously as she gripped her lightsaber in one hand. He noted that she was holding it with the backward grip that General Skywalker had been trying to break her of. A smiled spread across his face and he didn't know why he was smiling.

"They are searching," Rex said unholstering both of his blasters. He wanted to make a stand.

Ahsoka put her hand on his forearm. Her fingers looked delicate against the white plastoid armor he was wearing. Her eyes spoke volumes as they looked at him.

"Take off you helmet," she said trying to smile although he knew that she didn't feel like smiling. Rex would have rather stayed faceless so that she could not see the tears that he knew were blurring his vision. This was the end.

"Oh Ahsoka," he said trying not to think about it. "I don't want to."

"Rex," she said trying to sound calm. She was stronger and more mature then her age noted. "I would rather it be you then any one of those other blood hungry clones. Please do this for me."

Rex's hands shook. He had always been so steady. He was strong, but not this strong. It never had crossed his mind that this would be how it would end. There had to be something he could do. Some way that he could make things better. He had to make this situation his to win.

"Come over here and sit down," Ahsoka said pointing to spot on the floor where she was starting to sit. Rex followed the order obediently. His mind had turned off and he was now just a machine. His body felt like it was made of metal, cold and unfeeling. Distancing himself would be the only way he could live. As he sat on the ground, he crossed his legs and Ahsoka climbed into his lap. Her body felts like a feather against his armor. She removed his helmet and set it beside him.

He cradled her in his arms, holding her tight against him. Taking one of his blasters he put it between the two of them and aimed it so that it would hit her in the chest, making sure that it was over quickly for her. The blast would only sear his armor leaving a black scorch mark.

"General Tano," Rex said using the name he would call her in a military operation in front of the other men. "I can't. I can't do this."

Ahsoka wrapped her fingers around his wrist and held them there urging him on. Rex bent his trigger finger and it hovered over the trigger. Then he pulled and the sound of blaster fire and the smell of ozone stung his nose. Ahsoka went limp in his arms.

Rex held the blaster in his shaking hand and then pointed it under his chin. For the last time in his short life, he pulled the trigger.


End file.
